GLENDALE, Ariz. — All of the Dodgers’ pitchers and catchers reported to spring training on time Thursday with one big exception: a 6-foot-5 pitcher who used to be a catcher. Kenley Jansen had surgery to remove a growth from a bone in his left foot Tuesday in Los Angeles.

Granted, no official stats were kept. But if by chance someone was keeping score Wednesday night inside the bedlam that was the Dodgers clubhouse after clinching the National League West division crown, the guess is mercurial center fielder Yasiel Puig was batting around .

CHICAGO – Sunday could have been a disaster for the Dodgers. Their starting pitcher was a 39-year-old reliever who’s started one game since 2007, and he was backed up by a bullpen more taxed than a Danish billionaire.

CHICAGO — The only thing more unpredictable at Wrigley Field than the rain Saturday was the Dodgers’ bullpen. J.P. Howell allowed four runs in the seventh inning, and Brian Wilson allowed two in the eighth, as the Chicago Cubs came from five runs behind to beat the Dodgers 8-7.

CHICAGO — Dodgers center fielder Yasiel Puig made one of the best catches you’ll see this year in the fifth inning Saturday. Puig ran down a line-drive to the left-center field gap hit by the Chicago Cubs’ Jorge Soler, dove head-first to make the catch, then threw to second base to complete an inning-ending double play.

CHICAGO — A marquee hanging from a Wrigleyville storefront touted an opposing pitcher as the main attraction Friday morning: “KERSHAW GOES FOR 20,” it read. Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw indeed became the major leagues’ first 20-game winner in a 14-5 victory over the Cubs, but it wasn’t a marquee performance by his standards.

DENVER >> The Dodgers never trailed Monday at Coors Field, but neither did they look like the National League’s best team until the sixth inning. Then, an eight-run outburst at the expense of three Colorado Rockies pitchers broke open what became an eventual 11-3 win.

DENVER >> Dodgers manager Don Mattingly describes his clubhouse as “different.” He wouldn’t say how, offering only that “it’s just different from any team I’ve been around,” though a quick glance at the surface offers plenty in the way of different.

Yasiel Puig’s spot in the Dodgers’ batting order is in flux. After batting second or third most of the season, Puig was penciled into the leadoff spot Sunday in San Diego — the same spot where he made his major-league debut last year.

Until recently, the comparisons between Pedro Baez and Kenley Jansen were premature at best and superficial at worst. Jansen converted from a catcher to a pitcher at age 21 in 2009. Two years later, he was pitching for the Dodgers.

ATLANTA — First impressions in baseball are easy to forget. Orel Hershiser was called up to the Dodgers as a reliever in 1983; he gave up three runs in his first big-league appearance. In 1980, Fernando Valenzuela also debuted in relief and gave up two runs.

ATLANTA >> Dee Gordon arrived at Turner Field on Tuesday to see his name absent from the lineup card for just the third time since the All-Star break. Chone Figgins was at home in Florida, Gordon said, one week after being designated for assignment.

SAN FRANCISCO >> Dodgers catcher A.J. Ellis often says when Clayton Kershaw starts, he and the fans are seeing “something historic.” Sometimes that’s obvious, like when Kershaw no-hit the Colorado Rockies in June.

SAN FRANCISCO >> Baseball’s non-waiver trade deadline is Thursday. After that date, the rules stipulate that players must clear waivers before they can be traded. August 1 isn’t a totally arbitrary date.

PITTSBURGH — The next two days could determine whether or not Hanley Ramirez goes on the 15-day disabled list with a swollen left hand. The Dodgers’ shortstop was unable to take batting practice with his teammates prior to Wednesday’s game against the Pirates.

PITTSBURGH >> It was just a thought in the middle of a July game, but it’s one that could have lasting consequences for the Dodgers. Manager Don Mattingly said that Matt Kemp looked so comfortable playing right field Monday that he entertained the thought of keeping Kemp there and moving Puig to center field.

ST. LOUIS >> The Dodgers have ordered a second x-ray on Yasiel Puig’s swollen left hand, an injury that forced the all-star right fielder to miss Sunday’s game against the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium.

When grading the Dodgers’ first half of the season, money matters. This is the most expensive team in baseball history with an opening-day payroll north of $235 million, according to the Associated Press.

Don’t be sad, Yasiel Puig. You are not alone. In fact, you are part of a long lineage of Los Angeles Dodgers who fail miserably at the MLB Home Run Derby. Since 1985, the Dodgers have been represented in the derby eight times and of those chances, a Dodgers’ player has put up an big, fat donut (0) twice before Puig.

Even when Dan Haren managed to contain a long fly ball to the warning track Friday, it didn’t land in an outfielder’s glove. That’s not quite accurate. In the fifth inning Scott Van Slyke turned and ran for the fences, reached up at the last second with his back to home plate, stuck out his left arm and momentarily gloved a 390-foot Chase Headley smash.

Jamey Wright was on the field prior to the Dodgers’ game against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Sunday. He was playing catch at less than full speed and for good reason: He was throwing the ball to his young children.

It was merely one play, but it was still weighing on Dodgers first baseman Adrian Gonzalez when the seventh inning ended. He had misjudged a ground ball hit to second baseman Dee Gordon. Gonzalez broke to his right, nobody covered first base and, as a result, Miguel Montero wound up with an infield single.

I’m not going to lie. As a native New Yorker, I was rooting hard for a Kings vs. Rangers Stanley Cup Final. Sorry rest of America, but there’s nothing quite like the two greatest cities in the country getting together to decide the championship for one of the four major sports.

Home plate was a mighty big thing to Yasiel Puig when he first stepped into a major-league batter’s box one year ago today. From the inside black to the outside, the world was his oyster. Puig swung and swung and swung some more, and the approach appeared to work wonders.

Andrew McCutchen was 13 years old the last time the Pittsburgh Pirates won three games in a series at Dodger Stadium. Sunday, the Pittsburgh Pirates’ center fielder almost single-handedly dealt the Dodgers their third loss in the four-game series, clubbing a home run and two doubles in a 5-3 Dodgers loss before an announced crowd of 51,020.

Shortly after the Dodgers’ position players reported to spring training, Yasiel Puig shared his goal for the 2014 season with hitting coach Mark McGwire. Where would the mercurial 23-year-old set the bar after

Speed can break a radar gun or make a batter look foolish. Every mph is accompanied by an ooh or aah. If a pitcher could win a baseball game on speed alone, the Dodgers wouldn’t stand a chance against the Miami Marlins.

Depending on who you ask in the clubhouse, the Dodgers are either close to turning a corner or sagging on several fronts. Either way, there is room for improvement. Sunday’s loss, 7-4 to the San Francisco Giants, was the Dodgers’ sixth loss in their last eight games.

The tale of Yasiel Puig’s journey from Cuba to Los Angeles via drug smugglers in Mexico that was told in Los Angeles Magazine earlier this month has already been bought up by movie maker Brett Ratner, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

There was no mistaking the boyish laughs and the pregame histrionics of Yasiel Puig. The jovial 23-year-old Puig seemed genuinely entertained when Hanley Ramirez brought out a suit jacket with army camouflage especially for Juan Uribe, a popular target and teammate.

If Yasiel Puig intends to stop sliding head-first into first base, now is the time. All he has to do is ask teammate Carl Crawford. Crawford still remembers the last time he slid head-first on the basepaths without any protective gear on his hands.

Matt Kemp was unhappy when the weekend began. He had just been activated from the disabled list the morning of the Dodgers’ home opener, but his name wasn’t in the starting lineup. That changed about an hour later, when Yasiel Puig arrived late for batting practice Friday morning.

Matt Kemp was unhappy when the weekend began. He had just been activated from the disabled list the morning of the Dodgers’ home opener, but his name wasn’t in the starting lineup. That changed about an hour later, when Yasiel Puig arrived late for Friday morning’s batting practice at Dodger Stadium.

LOS ANGELES – Yasiel Puig was the only one who technically showed up late. The rest of the Dodgers were missing in action until an hour into their home opener Friday afternoon. By the time cleanup hitter Adrian Gonzales came to the plate in the second inning, the Dodgers faced an eight-run deficit, one from which they never recovered in an 8-4 loss in front of a 53,493 at Dodger Stadium.

LOS ANGELES >> Yasiel Puig’s late arrival to Dodger Stadium on Friday morning caused the Cuban outfielder to miss his rotation in batting practice and consequently be replaced in the lineup by Matt Kemp for the home opener against the San Francisco Giants.

Yasiel Puig is the very thing that stands to undo the Dodgers’ World Series championship hopes. Not injuries to Clayton Kershaw or Brian Wilson or any other player. Puig couldn’t even make the time to be on time for the Dodgers’ home opener on Friday.

LOS ANGELES >> Tuesday’s team meeting to discuss Yasiel Puig’s latest mistakes wasn’t necessary, in the opinion of A.J. Ellis, but the Dodgers had one nonetheless. After the 23-year-old Cuban made a pair of baserunning errors in the Dodgers’ 7-5 win over the Diamondbacks in Australia last Saturday and left the game in the ninth inning with an apparent back injury, Mattingly felt a team meeting was necessary to address the problem.

TEMPE, Ariz. — The Dodgers had never been involved in a game eligible for instant-replay review before Thursday. The Angels had been involved in three. In two of those three games, manager Mike Scioscia had no need for rule 7.

GOODYEAR, Ariz. — On a day when Zack Greinke was just beginning to push off a pitching rubber again, Hyun-Jin Ryu was feeling great. The Dodgers left-hander got to sleep in Wednesday morning and throw four innings at night, a rare combination in spring training.

GLENDALE, Ariz. — The Dodgers’ latest international signing — a Cuban, naturally — presents some interesting implications for the future of their infield. Erisbel Arruebarrena finalized a five-year contract with the Dodgers on Saturday worth a reported $25 million.

GLENDALE, Ariz. — When the Dodgers lost Nick Punto, Skip Schumaker and Mark Ellis to free agency over the winter it left a void on the infield. Finding the right combination of starters and reserves, particularly at second base, is at the top of the to-do list in camp.